I have made my first attempt at frankensteining a hair mesh and have discovered that making a new hair mesh and linking recolours to it is not the same as with clothing.

Can anyone link me to a tutorial that shows how to make a mesh package with multiple ages and how to link recolours to it?

Bonus if it also shows how to bin hairs properly.

Thanks.

Linking multi-age hairs and accessories is very similar. The major differences are that the resources have different names (instance 1 through 7, and PropertySet instead of MeshOverlay), and come in a slightly different order (Number 1 is often YA or adult, and usually the rest is in roughly ascending order from toddler to elder, but always check the age category in the PropertySet --> 1=PU, 2=CU, 4=teen, 8=adult, 10=elder, 40=YA ).

You always pair up the age in the PropertySet with the 3DIR with the same number (so 1 to 1, 2 to 2, etc. There's one extra #1 3DIR with 4 lines, don't mind that one). Also don't mind the PropertySet lines in the 3DIRs, those are kinda bugged and often show the wrong age.

For hairs there's just one SHPE and CRES for each 3DIR (accessories have 2 each). Adult, YA and elder hair usually share the same mesh, while child, toddler and teen need resized/repositioned meshes.

You have two-ish options when it comes to linking the meshes - One is to use the PJSE tool, in a few different ways.
--> The PJSE tool doesn't work with multi-part meshes, so the mesh files have to only consist of one each GMDC, GMND, SHPE and CRES resource, but it's easy to cheat.
--1a: Make a complete mesh with all the ages, do "Fix Integrity", then then temporarily separate the meshes into each age as new files for linking (This is my preferred method - I just copy the finished file 4 times, put it in a different folder and name them "a, c, p, t", then delete the resources for the other ages in each file, then link them up to the recolor with the PJSE tool).
--1b: Make separate meshes and then combine them in SimPE after linking (make sure to do Fix Integrity on each mesh BEFORE linking and not after combining them in SimPE - give them the same string wille doing Fix Integrity on each mesh if you want them to look a bit tidier).
Make a new file, grab all the finished and linked (!!!) mesh files, and drag-drop them into the new file, then save with a new name (kinda same method as above, but in reverse)
--1c: Keep the meshes separate. Creates a bit more clutter, but it works too.

2: Link the SHPE and CRES files manually (I've more or less quit doing this, as there's more room for error and it's really tedious).

There's probably a hair tutorial somewhere for multi-age (there's a lot for single-age hairs), but if it helps, here's my accessory tutorial - I think it can be of some help: https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/moo...rial-t1979.html
(I've outlined both methods of linking in the tutorial).

If you need more help, just ask

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For hair binning I tend to use Cat's hair binner - https://modthesims.info/d/434016

HP has a tutorial on manual hair binning here: https://modthesims.info/t/150742
(There's also a link to Theo's binner, which I've never tried - I don't know if it's updated for the latest SimPE versions).

Thanks.

Finally got around to finishing the meshes and tried and failed miserably to link them all. DX Got them showing up because I put the meshes in an already done hair file, but I guess I can't share it if it's overwriting another hair.

If the hair is overwriting another, it's possible you missed the "fix integrity" step on the mesh.

Found a couple 4t2 tutorials that could be helpful with the linking:
http://grecadeasims.blogspot.com/search/label/tutorial
https://socialbunny.tumblr.com/post...ersion-tutorial

Possibly also this 3t2 one (haven't checked the docouments)
https://0201-sims.tumblr.com/post/1...ersion-tutorial

It's a mix between text and pictures, so it depends what works best for you.

If you're meshing from scratch or if you're using a TS3/TS4 or some other mesh, most of the steps are still the same. The difference is mostly in how you prep the mesh before doing all the other steps (you usually either create and UVmap the mesh from scratch, or extract the mesh and fix/reposition the UVmap if need be).

The hair is overwriting another because I basically put the new mesh in another hair's file to make it show up in Bodyshop.

I have the mesh sitting there waiting to be added to a file, but that's as far as I've got.

This is also marked as 3t2 hair tutorial: https://serenity-fall.dreamwidth.org/1743.html BUT it does go through the linking etc in it so it might be useful for you. It's the one that I personally find the easiest to follow if I need to refresh my memory on something because pictures + text is the easiest for me to follow.

Thanks! Managed to get it done with the help of the tutorials.

Some absolute idiot (me) managed to delete the package I had made that actually worked and now SimPE is f---ing with me.

I'm trying to link the 3DIRs to the proper meshes, but where the tutorial says that the 3DIR should have the same instance number as the age group, it now doesn't (it did the first time I tried it).

Further investigation shows that the material definition is not for the same age as the category, as in the screenshots attached. The 3DIR says Category Toddler, but has the TXMT for child attached.

I have no idea what I did to mess it up.

Completely disregard the "Category" line* in the 3DIR. You'll want to stay true to comparing the instance numbers.

*I find that one is nearly always wrong (It seems it might count the next age up or something. You'll sometimes find the category line for one of the hairs in the 3DIR with just the four lines - so never trust that one. You'll pretty much always end up with a wrongly assigned hair if you try following it). So yes, SimPE is messing with you on that one, but it's a known "bug".

If you want to make doubly sure, you can compare the MMAT instances to the Material Definition lines (since those usually have the ages tagged on). That way you know you've got the correct age 3DIR if you ever should wonder. It's slightly more roundabout, but at least in the beginning it helps if you're still unsure of the PropertySet/3DIR instances.

Thanks! You saved Bodyshop from being yeeted out the window. It's working now.

Okay, one more question. I finally got around to binning with Cat's Hair Binner and I can't figure out how to separate the greys. I can give the same grey to blond/brown/black/red, but how do I give a different grey to each one? e.g. dark grey for black, paler grey for blond

The easiest way is to color the elder hair individually for each hair color before binning, and deselect the "1 grey for all 4 colors", but keep "Same family for all 4 colors".

If you have 4 individual grey hair files you want to use, then things get a bit difficult - there are some ways, but they take a lot more explaining.

Each colour has its own grey attached, but it's only selecting one of those for all 4 colours. Even when I unchecked 1 grey for all 4 colours.

Also, it wants a black/brown/red/blond every time. Is there a way to only bin one colour?

It should grey out the option to select the grey hair (round buttons down for the 4 colors) when you deselect the "1 grey for all 4 colors".

If I only want to bin one color, I use placeholders for the other colors (I just copy some unbinned hairs, rename them "placeholder blonde/red" etc., and use those - actual colors don't matter, it's just so I know which file I've used for which line. Make sure you keep the grey one for the color you want to keep, if that's how you're binning them).

(I always keep a copy of the unbinned version just in case something didn't work. Saves a lot of extra work if things binned wrong)

Oh I didn't realise that you were supposed to put a grey colour in too. I wasn't sure what the grey box was for. XD It does 'grey' out when you unselect '1 grey for all 4 colours', but it doesn't stop only one grey colour being chosen (maybe it picks the one from the top hair colour?).

But the placeholder idea should fix that too, thanks! I'll just do them one at a time.

Are you working on an already binned hair, or an unbinned hair?
The binner really doesn't do well with rebinning already binned hairs.

Hairs that I recoloured and went automatically into the custom bin.

I just tested, and unticking worked fine - the elder was kept in all the files. You can check in SimPE if you're unsure. If you have a colored (for adult and down) and a grey (for elder) texture in the file, there should be two sets of textures. Should also work for colored elders (but with the caveat that SimPE will smash together textures if they're identical, so if you just see one set of textures, that could be the reason - but only for same-colored elders. For grey elders you should see two sets).

The grey color in the binner is if you have a separate grey file for the elder (you're not supposed to use it unless you actually have a separate grey file you want to use - don't use one of the colored files for this!).

Keep in mind that the elder bin ingame and in Bodyshop is a bit weird, though. I had some strange things happening when trying to edit some elder binning with SimPE. After binning they worked fine, just had a few minor edits I wanted to test out, and then they went all weird. Tried multiple times. Ended up having to just stick with the binner because neither CAS nor Bodyshop refused to show the hairs in the proper bin or in the proper way.

I stumbled on this today, hope it is helpful, @Charity :- brand new and all, but not meshing, only recoloring.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/...d-IalV-lsc/edit

Thanks. Still can't get the elders to cooperate, so I'll just do hairs with differently coloured greys separately.

How do they show up in Bodyshop and/or CAS after binning, and what's the problem you're trying to solve?

I'm slightly unsure now if the greys may need a different approach with familying (as in not familying). You could try and see if unticking that too gives you the result you want. It would mean the four colors won't switch colors properly in CAS/Bodyshop between the color bins, but could be a small price to pay if that's what works.

Sorry! It was entirely me being stupid. Embarrassingly stupid. *facepalm*

I don't know why I thought that hair had separate greys because it did not and therefore no matter what I did it only had one grey to pull from. I don't know if I confused it with another hair or confused it with a separate grey recolour I did (done because there was only one grey!). I could swear I'd checked it in the file too, so I am also colourblind? I need a new brain.

Ah. Well, could be an idea to check it twice next time

(Hairs can be confusing, just get used to it... Been struggling with a hair-related sim issue for 8-10 years now, still haven't found a solution to that one...)